Mr Yakunin said that slower freight traffic growth was caused by falling demand for goods. Russian Railways expects the downturn will be only temporary and that it will be possible to reverse the negative trend through the company’s investment programme and the support it is receiving.
Mr Yakunin said that, as from next year, the Government will allocate funds for developing the Baikal-Amur Mainline (BAM), which is essential for developing transit traffic and guaranteeing Russian businesses’ the means for transporting their products to the markets.
The President noted that up to 200 billion rubles [$6 billion] from reserve funds will go into issuing infrastructure bonds to develop the BAM. The bonds will also help to finance the start of high-speed rail construction.